With the lid assembly in the lifted position and sliding plate retracted, test tubes to be used, up to the maximum quantity available on the rack, are inserted into the rack with the sealing caps closed. The Rack alignment features require that the tubes be inserted with the cap hinges to the back, the cap locking pins to the front. The Lid Assembly is lowered and the sliding plate is moved into the caps to engage the pins on all inserted test tubes simultaneously. The lid assembly hinge is located on an axis coincident with the axis of rotation of the test tube caps allowing all caps to be raised and held open simultaneously while maintaining the test tubes in the rack. When needed, all the test tubes are closed and sealed by lowering the lid assembly. The sliding plate is retracted and the lid assembly is lifted to expose the sealed test tubes. The rack provides access to the necks of the test tubes for marking or labeling as required on the individual test tubes. An open lever is provided to reduce the effort required to lift the Lid Assembly to unseal and open the test tube caps, and for ease of operation uses a downward motion. It pushes the lid assembly up by means of a rod at each end. An extract lever is provided to remove the sealed test tubes out of the rack, after the lid assembly with the sliding plate retracted is in the lifted position, also using a downward motion. A removable magnetic strip runs along the back of, and is in contact with, the test tubes should magnetic separation of the test samples be desired. All materials used in the construction of the Rack are capable of withstanding the temperatures of an autoclave when used for cleaning or sterilization.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the attached drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments which follow.